Title
Special Recognition - Association of Washington Cities 2019 Municipal Excellence Award
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Recognize Crisis Response Unit and Familiar Faces programs for receiving the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) 2019 Municipal Excellence Award.
Report
Issue:
Whether recognize Crisis Response Unit and Familiar Faces programs for receiving the AWC 2019 Municipal Excellence Award.
Staff Contact:
Steve Hall, City Manager, 360.753.8244
Presenter(s):
Tonia Sugarman, AWC Director of Member Services
Carl Schroeder, AWC Government Relations Advocate
Background and Analysis:
Each year the AWC the Municipal Excellence Awards recognize innovative city projects that significantly improve the quality of life for their communities. The awards were announced at AWC’s Annual Conference in Spokane this past June.
This year the City of Olympia’s Crisis Response Unit (CRU) and Familiar Faces were chosen as one of five recipients across the State.
The CRU is a partnership between Olympia Police Department (OPD) and Recovery Innovations International to provide free, confidential, voluntary crisis response assistance. The program is funded by the Public Safety Levy passed in 2017,
The CRU increases the ability to provide outreach services to those in crisis, identify each individual's circumstances and needs, and help identify individuals with chronic mental health disorders, substance abuse and co-occurring disorders.
The Familiar Faces program is a grant funded program in collaboration with Catholic Community Services that utilizes peer navigators to help identify and assist individuals with complex health and behavioral problems who have frequent and persistent contact with the OPD's Walking Patrol. These individuals are 15-20 of the most vulnerable in Downtown and the most resistant to services and resources.
Different from traditional service providers, peer navigators offer a shared life experience and non-judgmental and unconditional support to those they are assisting.
Attachments:
None